Saturday, April 28, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Pastor Keith and Pastor Brad talking about "retooling"
Strategies that help you build and share vision.this is how you do it!Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Today's sermon - Love your Enemies
Today I am going to push you. Actually to be more precise, Jesus is going to push you, as he has pushed me all week.
He is going to ask you to leave your comfort zone, and to follow him into a new place.
Today is the pinnacle of the second section of the Sermon on the Mount. The first section is the beatitudes. They are beautiful, poetic, encouraging, counter cultural, and if you live them right, you will be persecuted. The world will hate you, as it hated Jesus.
Then came the second section of the sermon. This section has 7 points. 6 of the 7 points begin, "You have heard it said..., but I tell you." Each time Jesus states an Old testament law that has become obscured by the way it is being applied during the times of Jesus. Each time Jesus returns the law to its original intent. He does this by saying, "I tell you..." And when he says, "I tell you..." he means, your creator is now setting you straight on some things you have misunderstood about the way you are to interact with each other.
Jesus has corrected the way we see the law, murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation and finally, how we treat our enemies.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Lets break it down.
First, the teaching of the day was that it was good and proper not only to love your neighbor (your fellow Jew) but it was good to hate your enemies (anyone who was not a Jew). We understand the root of this teaching, we find it still today. The best way to be a Christian is to love the people Jesus loves and hate the people Jesus hates. Well, we don't say it that way, but we see it lived out this way.
In brief, the theology goes this way.
A) Nothing we do saves us, only God can save sinners. He chose before the beginning of time those who would be saved.
B) Limited Atonement - since God knew who he would save, it is only necessary for Jesus to die for the sins of those who one day would be saved.
C) This highlights the fact that there are two groups of people walking the Earth today. Some will be saved, and some will be damned to Hell. The first our children of God, and second group is composed of the enemies of God.
This theology fits nicely with the thinking of the Pharisees at the time. God loves some, and hates some, so it is ok for us to love some, and hate some.
To people who believe this, Jesus words are mind boggling.
In verse 45, Jesus points out that God causes the sun to rise, and the rain to fall on both groups. In other words, (and to make Jesus' point) God loves them both.
So immediately we see the cognitive dissonance that is here. Love our enemies? How is this possible?
I suggest there are two possibilities.
1) Detachment. We either change our behavior towards our enemies, and do loving things, and separate ourselves from our feelings (which will revolt at the idea of doing something nice for someone who has hurt us, or treated us unfairly, or attacked our loved ones). While this sounds good, I fear it may be the worst possible solution. We know that attempting to "DO" the sermon on the mount without first acknowledging our inability to do it without God's help, will lead to the same twisted law following that Jesus is speaking out against in this sermon.
2) In following and surrendering to Jesus, we arrive at a place where we truly LOVE our enemies.
I take as my example of this Stephen, who when he was being stoned cried out, "Do not hold this sin against them."
There is also an OT example of this in the way God rebukes Jonah for not having compassion for the people on Nineveh.
Conclusion
I believe it is very difficult to live this passage. As if to highlight this, Jesus concluded it: be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect.
If we are not the ones to be drawing lines between friends and enemies, the question becomes are there any lines at all? Do we arrive at a point where the best thing we can do is live and let live.
I believe there is a line that Jesus wants us to draw. And the line is here. Every day we have two options. We can do what he has asked us to do, or we can do something else. And we can draw a big fat line between those two.
What Jesus asks me to do |||||||||||||||||| Everything else
And what Jesus asks us to do is to love people. Love everyone. Our neighbors. Our enemies.
May God give us the wisdom to know how to do this, and the courage to do it.
Mark Kraakevik of 8776 West Geddes Place, Littleton, CO 80128
Mark can be reached at 720-308-4051
Mark's blog can be found at www.markkraakevik.posterous.com
Mark can be reached at 720-308-4051
Mark's blog can be found at www.markkraakevik.posterous.com
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Annika is looking good
Annika spends her Saturday am on a horse.
I took this with Camera ZOOM FX for Android.
http://bit.ly/qH3AhdSent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Listen to questions people are asking, give God's answers
Darrin Patrick at #ignite2012Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sermon from this morning
The takings and makings of oaths In Daniel 11:27, we find a very interesting verse. "The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time." Two kings sit down and lie to each other. What an interesting description of the interaction between two world leaders. There is an advertisement for Survivor. In it the contestant says, "It ain't survivor, if I am not lying." In other words, one must lie your way to the top in that game. Do you recall a few years back that there was a Christian contestant, and that season there were often discussions about how she would face the ethical dilemmas of building and breaking alliances.
Today we bring that same question to our own lives. If we are going to live like Jesus. If we are going to commit ourselves to conforming to the image of Jesus, we will eventually run into this issue. Are we willing to embrace the third commandment - thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain" and the ninth commandment "thou shall not lie"? Today we turn to the topic of truth telling. And to the topic of "oaths." We are going to do a bit of hoping around through some different passages today, in order to see this subject in the greater context of the Bible. Today we will use the Bible to understand the Bible. We will make sense of this passage, by taking guidance from other passages, so keep your Bible handy. Turn first with me to Matt. 5. We will read verses 33-37. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Observations: 1) "Do not swear..." This is not a passage about course language. There are other passages that address that, and we are not going after that subject today. 2) From the context we can see that the practice of the day was to choose an object - a "throne," or a place - "Earth or Jerusalem," and to swear by these, thus avoiding the 3rd commandment of taking the Lord's name in vain. A fuller understanding of this is found in Matt 23: 16-21 Matt 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. 3) There is little disagreement about the general sense of what this text is telling us to do. "Tell the truth." Do not add a bunch of words to your statements in a effort to make them sound "more true." You may be asked about what you saw, or did, or to report on the progress being made on an assigned task. Tell the truth. If when you start to tell it, others start to doubt your integrity, do not call down curses on your head. If I am not telling the truth... may the fleas of a thousand camels fly up my nose. What it means: 1) What it does not mean. It does not mean do not take oaths at all. The Bible on several occasion instructs us to be careful in taking oaths. Thus implying that we will make oaths. Jesus is not changing the OT law. Lev. 19:12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." Numbers 30:2 "2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." 2) As with the other situations to this point, Jesus is returning to the intent of the law. Be careful with your words. Make sure your words match reality. If you say you will do something, do it.
Application: 1) Check your pride: The vase is broken 2) Be courageous: Better to tell the truth to a friend 3) Remember the law - grace cycle.
Today we bring that same question to our own lives. If we are going to live like Jesus. If we are going to commit ourselves to conforming to the image of Jesus, we will eventually run into this issue. Are we willing to embrace the third commandment - thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain" and the ninth commandment "thou shall not lie"? Today we turn to the topic of truth telling. And to the topic of "oaths." We are going to do a bit of hoping around through some different passages today, in order to see this subject in the greater context of the Bible. Today we will use the Bible to understand the Bible. We will make sense of this passage, by taking guidance from other passages, so keep your Bible handy. Turn first with me to Matt. 5. We will read verses 33-37. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Observations: 1) "Do not swear..." This is not a passage about course language. There are other passages that address that, and we are not going after that subject today. 2) From the context we can see that the practice of the day was to choose an object - a "throne," or a place - "Earth or Jerusalem," and to swear by these, thus avoiding the 3rd commandment of taking the Lord's name in vain. A fuller understanding of this is found in Matt 23: 16-21 Matt 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. 3) There is little disagreement about the general sense of what this text is telling us to do. "Tell the truth." Do not add a bunch of words to your statements in a effort to make them sound "more true." You may be asked about what you saw, or did, or to report on the progress being made on an assigned task. Tell the truth. If when you start to tell it, others start to doubt your integrity, do not call down curses on your head. If I am not telling the truth... may the fleas of a thousand camels fly up my nose. What it means: 1) What it does not mean. It does not mean do not take oaths at all. The Bible on several occasion instructs us to be careful in taking oaths. Thus implying that we will make oaths. Jesus is not changing the OT law. Lev. 19:12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." Numbers 30:2 "2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." 2) As with the other situations to this point, Jesus is returning to the intent of the law. Be careful with your words. Make sure your words match reality. If you say you will do something, do it.
Application: 1) Check your pride: The vase is broken 2) Be courageous: Better to tell the truth to a friend 3) Remember the law - grace cycle.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sermon: Love unconditionally
February 12th, 2012
Sermon:
Love Unconditionally
Matthew 5:27-30
Matt 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Eph 5: 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
I Cor 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Last week we talked about avoiding lust, and guarding our hearts, this week we will talk about why we must do that. We are talking about the value of marriage.
1) Jesus is very serious about us protecting ourselves from illicit relationships. This passage is loaded. It is harsh. It catches you a bit off guard on the first read. With the loose morals of the day in which Jesus lived, this would have really made people sit up and take notice.
eyes and hands are important
repeats phrase twice
consequence of not heeding advice is hell
2) We can see from these passages that when Jesus talks about marriage, he is thinking about his bride, the church. For those who have a low view of marriage, and what it means, this passage sends a clear message. Marriage is a big deal to Jesus, and is to be protected, even if it means great cost to the individual.
3) Jesus sets the example for how we are to love, by loving us, his bride. What does that say about how we are to love our brides (and our grooms). How are you doing? How do you measure up?
4) NO OF US MEASURE UP.
5) Marriage is a very humbling experience. Nothing brings out our weaknesses, and underlines our failures like marriage. If we are going to fail as individuals it is seen here first, and if we are unwilling to humbly face our faults, they will destroy us.
6) But, in a bigger picture, this is not about our ability to follow the law, it is about our ability to accept grace and forgiveness. Remember that the point of Jesus overall teaching is not that we must make ourselves follow the law, but that we must receive righteousness, by faith in him. And that he who began a good work in us will complete it. If we have accepted Jesus, we have imputed righteousness (we wear his Righteousness), but our actions are slower to catch up, and we must grow into our righteousness.
7) We are holy, but not yet holy.
8) This does not mean we get a free pass. The Bible says we must fight against temptation, and keep our eye on the goal and run the race, and throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. We must struggle with everything within us to follow his example (not out of law) but out of gratitude.
9) Obedience is rooted in TRUST. Do you trust that following God's word is the best way to live? We become obedient as we daily surrender to His will, and this requires that we trust what He is telling us to do. We can not obey Him with our full hearts if we do not trust that the direction He is leading us is truly the best. And to be sure, our culture is doing everything in its power to convince us that God's ways are boring and pointless, and too difficult.
10) What simple strategies do you use to keep your marriage strong? Are there things we can learn from each other? What have you seen others do that worked?
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Email I received today from Kristan Hawkins: Making sense of the Komen v. Planned Parenthood Drama
Dear Friends,
As many of you know, this week Planned Parenthood announced that the Susan G. Komen for a Cure Foundation was cutting it's funding to Planned Parenthood. Susan G. Komen grants make up about 1/20th of 1% of Planned Parenthood's annual funding. As you probably saw, Planned Parenthood went ballistic and launched a mafia shakedown campaign against the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Because they are under congressional investigation and their own President, Cecile Richards, has even admitted that 2011 was their worst year ever, they went on attack because Susan G. Komen pulled funding. And this morning the Susan G. Komen Foundation released an ambiguous statement which has confused everyone. We will not know for a few months whether or not Susan G. Komen has caved into the pressures of Planned Parenthood or not, but it looks like they have. But here is what we know: 1) Susan G. Komen alerted Planned Parenthood that would not renew their funding for Planned Parenthood. However, they admitted they will continue grants to 3 Planned Parenthood locations in low-income areas in the mean time, until other community organizations location could receive the funding. 2) On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood released an emergency fundraising appeal announcing that the Susan G. Komen Foundation would no longer fund them. As you probably saw, a mafia-style shakedown has been raised by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood asked businesses to withdraw funding from Susan G. Komen and asked donors to no longer give to the charity. Simply put, Planned Parenthood told Komen "either give us money or we will destroy you." They were aided and abetted in this hostage taking by the mainstream media. 3) This morning, the Susan G. Komen Foundation issued a statement saying they apologized for the way Planned Parenthood had been treated and will re-evaluate their grant process and "continue to fund existing grants including those to Planned Parenthood." 4) We don't know what this means. We do not know if this means that Susan G. Komen will simply fund those 3 locations they mentioned previously until they find an alternative replacement or if they have caved in to the pressure of Planned Parenthood and will continue funding the abortion Goliath. 5) Planned Parenthood has held women with breast cancer hostage. They have launched a mafia-style shakedown just like they did when the state of Indiana voted to de-fund them. If you remember back a few months ago, they successfully worked with the Obama administration to threaten to withhold all federal medicaid funding to the state of Indiana (money that pays for the healthcare of those who cannot afford it) unless the state re-instated their funding to the abortion Goliath. So, this is what you need you to do: We need you to immediately contact Susan G. Komen (news@komen.org) and tell them not to cave and give into Planned Parenthood's bullying. Tell Komen that their organization should not be aligned with an organization like Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the country, because it is a proven fact that abortion causes breast cancer. (Go here to see the studies that prove the link: http://links.causes.com/s/clALyj) Friends, I promise to keep you alert of what is going on. Please pass on this message and spread the word via e-mail and social media today and this weekend by sending this link: http://links.causes.com/s/clALyz. Also, on a personal note: my grandmother suffered from breast cancer, and I am deeply committed to finding an ethical cure for all cancer. However, I will not be donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation until we know for sure that they haven't caved to Planned Parenthood's bullying and are not giving one dollar to the abortion Goliath.
Thank you for all that you do for Life,
Kristan Hawkins
Executive Director
Students for Life of America
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
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